THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENTIFIC REASONING ABILITY OF FIRST-YEAR STUDENT IN BIOLOGY LABORATORY COURSE BY USING LEARNING CYCLE

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the scientific reasoning ability of first-year students in biology laboratory course at Nakhon Ratchasima Rajabhat University before and after implementing teaching with a learning cycle activity. The sample groupconsisted of 11 first year undergrad students that enrolled biology laboratory course. They were chosen through purposive sampling. The instruments were 1) lesson plan using learning cycle 2) 20 items multiple choice and 3 item essay exams for evaluate science reasoning ability. Quantitative data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, and Wilcoxon signed-rank test. The data from an essay exam was analyzed using content analysis. The results found that before studying with learning cycle, the student got 43.20 percent of scientific reasoning scores. After learning, students got 46.80 percent of scientific reasoning scores. Mean value of scientific reasoning score was not significantly different between before and after learning with learning cycle. The content analysis found that after using the learning cycle, most students have very good level of scientific reasoning ability in the aspect of exploring phenomena. Students must improve their scientific reasoning ability in the aspect of formulating hypothesis and prediction.